Tonight, We Collide

Tara and Peter drove quietly in the hybrid car Andy left for them. Tara had no clue the make of the car, only that it was some "better for the environment" contraption that Andy tended to invest in.

She looked over at her son, who had his head against a pillow that was against the window of the car. She smiled at him and played the radio lightly as she starred at the open road in front of her.

Tara didn't know where they were going to end up, but at that moment all she knew was that she was driving towards Iowa, and Even though it was farther than Indiana, she figured Patrick would check Indiana before Iowa.

The trip to the border would be almost two hours, and they had already traveled the first half. She figured they would Head up north to Washington, and if need be they could run to Canada or Alaska, Tara had always wanted to live somewhere in a cooler climate. The harsh seasons of Chicago had never been her friend. She could live with the brutal cold of winter, but it was the blistering suns of summer that burned her skin and made her resemble a lobster for weeks on end.

She despised the feeling of the hot sun singing her skin. A cool climate would be a great change for once, and she figured being farther away would take Patrick longer to find them.

An hour later the small car passed over the large bridge that connected Illinois and Iowa, she shook Peter awake and pointed down to the Mississippi River and saw him smile and look at it.

"We're home free," He said groggily. he yawned before continuing, "Hey Mom, our escape is kinda like those old stories, you know, the ones where people run for it until they hit a river, where their scent drops completely and everyone thinks they drowned?" He rambled.

Tara smiled, she knew what he was talking about. "That's a good metaphor to our life," She said with a small smile, "It's no wonder you get A's in English," She continued ruffling Peter's hair.

She looked foreword and pulled off at the rest stop, she handed Peter five dollars and told him to get some food while she used the pay phone.

Tara dialed Joe's number delicately and waited two short rings before he answered.

"Hello?" He asked confused at the unknown number.

"It's Tara," She said tiredly.

"Hey!" He said happy to hear his little sister's voice.

"We made it over the border and we're-" Joe cut her off, "Don't tell me where you are yet, I don't want to slip up or anything," He sighed on the other end of the line.

"Be safe Tara, I'm going to call Andy. It's time to tell Pete the truth about Peter."

"Good luck, I love you big brother," She said sadly.

"Love you too," He said before hanging up the phone.

Tara turned to Peter who had his hands full of candy bars and soda. She smiled, "Let's hit the road, I might even let you drive if you don't annoy the crap out of me,"

"Cool!" Peter jeered taking off for the car.

"Not right now! Wait till we're in the middle of nowhere!" Tara laughed.

They both climbed into the car and continued to drive towards Washington, Tara was glad she wouldn't be around when the boys told Pete about his son.

She was even more glad she wouldn't be near Ashlee if she found out.